21. One setback after another!!

I really don't seem to have much luck at the moment well not good luck anyway, The plan was...we were going to fix the trucks exhaust, change some gaskets on the race car to stop the oil leaks and race it this weekend...but! my son had a wee bit of an accident in his car the day before all this was due to happen and seeing he is my crew chief we had to cancel.

Ok so on to plan B go up and sort the car and truck out this Friday and if anything goes wrong we still had Saturday as well, So I was up at 4:45am left the house with the car loaded by 10 to 6 am....

Generator, tools, tool box, welding gear, axle stands, jacks etc etc. I met my son in Bedford at 9am and by 9:20am we were at the truck, and from that moment everything went wrong ..really wrong.

First job get the bottom pulley off and change the oil seal that is leaking rather badly and take the timing cover off and change the gasket, first thing we noticed was the fuel pump was a bit loose we took it off removed the battery box and then got well and truly stuck as the bottom pulley refused to budge...so we travelled the length and breadth of Bedford and Kempston looking in every tool shop there was trying to find a different pulley puller, did we find one...no, in Steve's shop in Swindon he has them on the shelf LOL Two hours later we went back to the truck and with an almighty effort Steve managed to get the pulley off and then the timing cover.

While Steve was getting the pulley off I took the injector stacks off ready to clean them off and also if we got time we were going to take the inlet manifold off and reseal it, Steve also took the rocker covers off as we were going to change those gaskets too, one of the rocker boxes was loose and I mean loose I could undo the nuts with my fingers and when Steve looked he found a bit of damage to one of the rockers..boy oh boy all I wanted to do was drive a dragster not to strip it and replace tons of parts..

Then on top of that when we looked at the timing cover we found out why the pump was loose there are cracks going through the tapped holes which hold the pump onto the cover which means we are never going to be able to tighten it up properly.

I have now got try and source another cover and a new rocker and push rod as someone has ground the end and I believe they are either toughened or heat treated either way grinding it will weaken it.

My generator was not man enough to power my sons welding gear so we cant fix the rotted exhaust on the truck and I can't afford a new one so I have no idea what to do now? and then it wouldn't start again..getting depressed now after all the money I have paid out so far it looks like my dream of travelling down the sacred tarmac of Santa Pod is fast evaporating...!

20. Tools and stuff

First of all I am so chuffed, this morning my SPRC membership card and gear turned up, so does this mean I am at long last a real racer LOL......

So now I have my membership number I have sent off  my membership application the Wild Bunch, so Slimline Racing is now on the map with it's car..Tight Fit.

As I mentioned in my last post I have now started to get together another tool kit for the truck some fo the tools have arrived and some are still on the way but this is what is on order already....

My son has a small torque wrench for me and I have two battery chargers to pick up as well I am hoping that we have enough tools to do the job now as I am fast running out of money LOL I have one month to get to the gym and lose some weight before I have to see the "Blood Pressure" nurse at my local surgery so fingers crossed I am yet be able to get my licence before the middle of the season.

19. More stuff

I received my registration pack from the Wild Bunch and the car now has a number yaaaa WB64 I have had to join the Santa Pod Racers Club first though so as soon as my SPRC registration come through then I can send my money off to the Wild bunch guys,

We are getting nearer and nearer my arranged/hoped for first try out in the car, still hoping my race suit turns up on time and that I can get the exhaust welded up on the truck fingers crossed that will all be done on the weekend of the 14th to 16th march.

I have ordered up some tools as I do have an imperial and metric tool kit at home...Harley users know that American bikes don't use metric sizes but the thought of carrying all the tools back and forth to the truck is not a pleasant one so I have got some more on  the way which I  will leave in the truck I also found a book that I thought would be useful bit is but not in the way I thought it would be LOL

Time is marching on and I have an awful lot on my plate at the moment but it looks like we are getting there at last!

I am running out of room at home, I live in a small 3 bed mid terrace house and even though I do have a garage that is full of motorbikes and bike trailers so at the moment  I have stuff for racing stuffed into all sorts of places, behind the TV on top of the freezer, you can't open a cupboard in this house without something falling out to do with my racing endeavour, Lorni is getting real fed up with it so most of it is destined for the truck as soon as the last bits and bobs have arrived which should be within the week,,,fingers crossed.

18. Bits and pieces...getting there

OK so  time is moving on now and we are getting nearer and nearer the start of the season we have identified most of the tools and accessories we need and I think we have most of them either on order or here already, I have managed to get a lot of stuff through my son and his companies discount, The race suit is ordered it is now a case of whether it turns up on time or not, the helmet is already here...

I ordered some gaskets for the engine and the transmission and they have turned up...

..along with some 5 gallon liquid containers, so we can now get on and sort out the oil leak I have borrowed my sons welding gear so we can get the trucks exhaust welded up and repair the silencer....

The welder is in the back of the car at the moment along with the welding shield, oil pan, timing light and low level hydraulic jack...in the back seat foot-well in the car is the large capacity battery for starting the car, the leads are being made up by my son and the two sets of braced axle stands.......

 We already have a compressor in the truck and this morning the generator I ordered turned up ..

The adapter plugs and sockets for it are also on the way, we probably have just enough tools to keep us going so I think we are just about there, well ready for RWYB's anyway ..I will worry about the licence stuff later , next I suppose I had best join the racers association's and the Wild Bunch..then its race time folks.....

17. Moving along

It amazes me how quick you can get things done if you put your mind to it, first of getting the truck exhaust welded up has now been sorted I will go down to Swindon in a weeks time to pick up some gear for the car that my son Steven has ordered for me at the same time I will pick up his welding gear, I will then take all of the gear over to the truck where my brother Dave will doe the welding..if I can get a 240v supply from somewhere.

I have this evening sent off my order for my fire proof gear it will be a two piece suit and black....

Something like this I wouldn't wonder but without the shades, I have also ordered the correct approved helmet which will be white...

We now have the axle stands and low level jack so the tools side is sorted I have a decent compressor for now for tyre inflation, I have a 24 Volt battery charger for the truck and I have ordered various plastics,,,funnels fuel cans etc.

The Engine gasket kit has been ordered along with the power-glide sump gasket....

We have fuel and oil just need my other son to get his finger out now and get my generator but if that fails to happen Steve has got one I can borrow for a while, I have rejoined the gym and start my diet tomorrow so with a bit of luck I will get this blood pressure sorted so i can get m licence then I can enter competition for real.......this is all getting real now..woohooo!!!!

16. Work to do

So an early start got me to the petrol station on the A6 just outside Bedford at around a quarter to ten, I found my son was already there, he had come up from Swindon, we had a cuppa and something to eat then drove up to the Caravan storage depot where the truck and car are parked up. The idea was to have a stock check and see what we needed to complete the equipment store ready for racing. While we were there have a good look round the race car.

While we there my son Steven decided to try out the drivers seat.....

We did  find a bit of oil where we weren't expecting to.......

We also found some on the floor which suspected came from here....

..the timing plate cover but after a call to the ever helpful Ian sorted most of the trouble out for us we still have a bit of work to do on the truck as we found the exhaust had cracked all the way through and we have a split in  the silencer as well oh and we need to clean the dragsters fuel tank out and then give it all a clean and polish up ready for the start of the season.

15. We move forward

Had a busy day today I managed to get hold of the guy that runs the Caravan storage where the truck is parked up as I need to get into it tomorrow to do a stock check and to let my son have a quick look round and see if he can get me some bits and bobs on the cheap...through his discount scheme at work that is...

This is where the truck is parked up

I then spent some time on the phone to Ian Turberville going through a few bits and pieces re: what I still need etc and I found out I don't need to have a licence to do a run what you brung even which is good news for me at the moment.

Ian's homepage

And I also found out that Dragstalgia is also a glorified run what you brung event so with a bit of luck and a following wind I might try and enter that too as this is a brilliant meeting I will attend even if I am not racing.

I have also been in touch with Ed  at DS Racewear to sort out my fire suit and gear so all in all not a bad today, I have got to getup early tomorrow as I am meeting my son at a petrol station on the A6 before going on to sort the car out....really looking forward now to driving the car in anger.